Welcome to Cruise Critic! If you'd like to participate on our forums by joining in the conversation, please Register Now! Be sure to visit our FAMOUS Roll Call forums, where you can meet other cruisers sailing with you and share a tour or shore excursion and SAVE MONEY!

We headed to Baltimore a day early and stayed at the Embassy Suites at the airport and spent the day at the harbor. We headed back to the hotel for a meet and greet with other CC members and for our free cocktails. After our free breakfast (included in the hotel rate) we were picked up by American Limousines. I must say this limo service is fantastic for the Baltimore area. The pick up for both Sundays was early, professional and very reasonable in price. I highly recommend them. We were picked up at 10:00 and he took us to the pier. We had absolutley no problems getting in. Check in was a breeze and then we waited for the ship to empty out and we were on board at 12:05. Only 2 poeple had boarded ahead of us so the ship was empty. We went straight to our cabins and unloaded carry ons and then right to the lido deck for lunch. We were in cabin 7260 which is a handicapped room with a balcony that is 185 sq ft so it was great! We had a lot of noise from the storage room beside us. This is the room that all of the stewards use for storage and it is used all day and all nite. I personally would not recommend this room. Our room steward was Adrian and he was great. He even brought me a lounge chair from the deck to use on my balcony! The ship is just magnificent. The people working on the ship are fantastic. We only came in contact with one employee who was not extremely pleasant and helpful. After lunch we went to the dreaded muster drill then back to unpack. We had dinner in the dining room that first nite to get our drink coupons but other than that we ate in Horatios restaurant which is a buffet. The food everywhere on the ship was great. The sandwiches in the deli are a little different other than the reuben so I didn't try anything there. My hubby tried the chicken wrap but it wasn't too good! You can get burgers, dogs and steak sandwiches at the grill. They have oriental food at one buffet, salad bar at another and different things daily at another. One day was french, another was italian. We checked out Nick & Nora's but only to see it. We did not eat there. Sunday nite was a bingo game. I won $1000.00 there so it was lots of fun!!!!! They have a loung crawl on this ship and we had so much fun with this. The cruise directors (there are 4 of them) were fantastic. Todd Witmer, Tex, Tim & Karl with a K and they worked so well together and were extremely active and entertaining.
The ports:
Key West was our first stop. We did the trolley ride then it was off to Duval Street and the shops and bars!!! We stopped at the web cam outside of Sloppy Joes so we could all wave to SIL who was watching on the computer at home. Then we just visited a few bars, including Kelly's, and then shopped a little and headed back to the ship. We were the last ones on the ship as there was a guy ahead of us who had way too much to drink and they were trying to decided if they were going to let him back on. They finally left him go but his wife must have been watching from up above on the deck and when the elevator opened for him to get on she was waiting for him and it was not a pretty sight!!!!!!!
Nassau was our second stop. We took the Blue Lagoon tour and it was alot of fun. Very relaxing. We rented tubes to hang out in and just floated in the water. Just be careful if you do this because you can easily float outside of the ropes and there is no lifeguard there. You are on your own!!!! We also walked around the island. It's a neat place! Very expensive food there but unless you take your own you have no choice!!! We headed back to the ship for dinner. Then we planned to shop and go to Senor Frogs. Well..........everything is closed at 5:00 except the Hard Rock and Senor Frogs. We stopped at Hard Rock for a glass and then onto Senor Frogs. This place smelled so bad I can't imagine how anyone ate there! We bought t-shirts and headed back to the ship. This whole area is not safe after dark and I wouldn't recommend it. I'm not sure why the ships stay there so late.
Freeport was our last stop. This port did not impress me at all. We took a taxi to the straw market and it was basically a waste of time. Then we took the "taxi ride nightmare". This taxi had no a/c (it was hot) and it had a huge hole in the floor where all of the exhaust was coming in. It was horrible. I had some Bath & Body wipes in my pouch and all of us in the back held them at our noses so we could breathe! It was terrible! If we ever stop there again we would just stay on the ship!!
All our sea days were filled with things to do. We played shuffleboard a few times and had a good time with that.....even though we really didn't know the rules! We just made them up as we went!!! The weather was windy but warm. The cruise was just fantastic and we all four just hated to get off the ship. But they made us go................
Debarkation was not a problem at all. We left our rooms and waited in the casino for our color to be called. We were off the ship at 10:40 and our limo was right there to pick us up.
This whole cruise was just fantastic!! I can't say enough good things about the crew and the ship. And sailing from Baltimore was great!
Any questions please feel free to ask!!!

Glad to hear you had a great time. We also had Adrian as our room steward and he was awesome. I also totally agree with what you said about Freeport. I don't think I'll be going back there anytime soon. Welcome home!

Thanks for the review. We're sailing out of Bmore in October. I know you guys took a limo, but did you happen to notice if there was plenty of parking at the pier or is it a situation where they park you somewhere else and bus you to the ship? Also, how did you get to the Atlantic? I expected the only way to be down the Bay to Newport News, VA, but after studying the map I noticed a waterway through Delaware. Just curious. Glad you had a good time.

I was on the same sailing as Jill and I completely agree that the cruise was wonderful! This was my first group cruise, and it was so nice to meet everyone on embarkation day, then see them again here and there throughout the week.

Just a tip for Freeport - instead of going to the straw market, have the bus driver take you to Port Lucaya. There is a small shopping area on one side of the street (nothing too special), but the highlight of that area is that you are allowed to walk past the big hotels there and use the beaches on the other side. The beaches were very clean and the water was fairly calm the day we were there. I would highly recommend using this port as a beach day in Port Lucaya, instead of a shopping or sightseeing day.

They are both set up on Deck 2, right near the Fountainhead stairs. The sushi bar is open at different times (not sure what their schedule is) and they are at a little kiosk outside of Maguire's bar. The dessert/coffee bar is across from the sushi bar - outside of Frankie & Johnnie's. My hubby bought me some chocolate covered strawberries from the dessert bar and they were delicious!

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mdaviswv:
Also, how did you get to the Atlantic? I expected the only way to be down the Bay to Newport News, VA, but after studying the map I noticed a waterway through Delaware. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
We traveled down the Bay and went over one of the tunnel sections of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. While traveling past the bridge/tunnel, you can see the cars driving on the bridge and into the tunnel - it was one of the neatest sights I've ever seen.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
We stopped at Hard Rock for a glass and then onto Senor Frogs. This place smelled so bad I can't imagine how anyone ate there!
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

We were on the May 2nd sailing of the Miracle and friends who went to Senor Frogs said the same thing about the smell. They thought it was a sewage backup or something like that.
I agree there is no reason to stay in Nassau so late. I used the time to nap before the deck party!!

Well I will tel ya about the Lounge I was on the cruise with jill and deb. Not many sober days any how lol. The CD Tood takes you on a tour of the Lounges or Bars what ever you want to call it. We started at Frankie and Johnnys it has a live band that you can not miss the are very good and play every night Todd will sing with the band he is a very good singer and then you dance and drink and drink, then on to the next bar and so on and end up at the disco it all starrts about 10 pm I think i was in good shape when it started lol. One It is is a fun Ship. The Best Cruise Directors i have ever been with.

Hey Rocker!!! You must have been feeling good when we left since we started at the Mad Hatter's Ball!!! Do you remember that? LOL That had to be one of the best times we had all week. And I really think that everyone who went with us would agree!!!! Especially the response in the piano bar!

Yep your right Jill i guess we did start at mad Hatters I dont know lol all I know is we had one heck of a good time I dont think they knew what to do when obout 100 people walked in at once. Well it seemed like a 100 i dont know.Its something you dont want to miss

Moon it will be in the Capers and Todd will tell you all about it in the welcome aboard program You cant miss it. Monday and Friday are the Formal nights. and Dont miss the deck partys when Todd and Tex do dirty dancing its a hoot

They also started a Murder Mystery the week we were on. This is something new for them and since it was the first time for it there were not alot of people there but it was pretty good. It was inside during the day so that may have kept some people away.